.xausnips.

Don't Waste Your Life Video - Lecrae

2009-04-18T23:25:00.000-07:00

Verse 1: (Lecrae)
I know a lot of people that scared they gone die
couple of em thinking they'll be livin in the sky
while Im here livin man I gotta ask why, what am here fo I gotta figure out
waste my life no I gotta make it count
if Christ is real then what am I gone do about
everything in Luke 12:15 down to 21
you really gotta go and check it out
Paul said if Christ aint resurrect then we wasted our lives
well that implies that our life's built around Jesus being alive
everyday I'm living tryna show the world why
Christ is more than everything you'll ever try
better than pretty women and sinning and living to get a minute of any women and men that you admire
it aint no lie
We created for Him
outta the dust he made us for Him
Elects us and he saves us for Him
Jesus comes and he raises for Him
Magnify the Father why bother with something lesser
he made us so we could bless Him and to the world we confess him
resurrects him
so I know I got life
matter fact better than I know I got Christ
if you don't' see His ways in my days and nights
you can hit my brakes you can stop my lights
man I lost my rights
lost my life
forget the money cars and toss that ice
the cost is Christ
and they could never offer me anything on the planet that'll cost that price.

Verse 2: (Lecrae)
Suffer
Yeah do it for Christ if you trying to figure what to do with your life
if you make a lot of money hope you doing it right because the money is Gods you better steward it right
stay focused if you aint got no ride
your life aint wrapped up in what you drive
the clothes you wear the job you work
the color your skin naw you Christian first
people living life for a job/ make a lil money start living for a car
get em a house a wife kids and a dog
when they retire they living high on the hog
but guess what they didn't ever really live at all
to live is Christ yeah and that's Paul I recall
to die is gain so for Christ we give it all
he's the treasure you'll never find in the mall
See your money your singleness marriage talent yo time
they were loaned to you to show the world that Christ is Divine
that's why it's Christ in my rhymes
That's why it's Christ all the time/
see my whole world is built around him He's the life in our lives
I refused to waste my life
he's too true ta chase that ice
heres my gifts and time cause I'm constantly trying to be used to praise the Christ
If he's truly raised to life
then this news should change your life
and by his grace you can put your faith in place that rules the days and nights.

Quotes - Mark Driscoll

2008-11-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

(Porn Again Christian)

You are not an animal. You are the glory of God.
You are not a pervert. You are the glory of God.
You are not an addict. You are the glory of God.
You are not a victim. You are the glory of God.
You are not a fool. You are the glory of God.

Skillet - Collide

2008-06-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

(Collide)

We have fallen
We have fallen again tonight
Where do we go from here
When they’re tearing down our lives?
When all they want is
When all they want is
For us to live in fear
How long can we hold on?
Can we hold on?
Hold on

There’s something deep inside
That keeps my faith alive
When all you can do
Is hide from the fear
That’s deep inside of you
Something, something, something
Something, something, something
To hold me close when I don’t know
There’s something deep inside
That keeps my faith alive

We are healing
But it’s killing us inside
Can we take a chance?
When faith and fear collide
We can make it
Step out and take it
We can’t live feeling so numb
How long can we hold on?
Can we hold on?
Hold on

There’s something deep inside
That keeps my faith alive
When all you can do
Is hide from the fear
That’s deep inside of you
Something, something, something
Something, something, something
To hold me close when I don’t know
There’s something deep inside
That keeps my faith alive (2x)

Quotes - Tim Keller

2008-05-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

(The Centrality of the Gospel)

All of us to some degree live around the truth of the gospel but do not ‘get’ it. So the key to continual and deeper spiritual renewal and revival is the continual re-discovery of the gospel. A stage of renewal is always the discovery of a new implication or application of the gospel - seeing more of its truth.

* * *

(Message: Preaching the Gospel)

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you — it’s about him.

* * *

(The Reason for God)

The Christian gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself nor less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”

* * *

(The Reason for God)

Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power exceeds ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and godforsaken. Why did he do it? The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us.

Reuben Morgan :: At the Cross

2008-03-19T22:02:00.000-07:00

At the Cross

Oh Lord You’ve searched me
You know my way
Even when I fail You
I know You love me

Your holy presence
Surrounding me
In every season
I know You love me
I know You love me

At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There’s no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now

You go before me
You shield my way
Your hand upholds me
I know You love me

You tore the veil
You made a way
When You said that it is done

And when the earth fades
Falls from my eyes
And You stand before me
I know You love me
I know You love me

Song - Paul Baloche :: Our God Saves

2008-03-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

(Our God Saves (Youtube))

Verse
In the name of the Father,
In the name of the Son,
In the name of the Spirit,
Lord we come,
We're gathered together,
to lift up Your name,
to call on our Savior,
to fall on Your grace,

Pre-Chorus
Hear the joyful sound of our offering,
as your saints bow down, as your people sing,
We will rise with You, lifted on Your wings,
and the world will see that,

Chorus
Our God Saves, Our God Saves
there is hope in Your name
mourning turns to songs of praise
Our God Saves, Our God Saves, Yeah

Quotes - John Owen

2007-10-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

(Works of John Owen)

To suppose that whatever God requireth of us that we have power of ourselves to do, is to make the cross and grace of Jesus Christ of none effect.

* * *

(The Holy Spirit)

To say that we are able by our own efforts to think good thoughts or give God spiritual obedience before we are spiritually regenerate is to overthrow the gospel and the faith of the universal church in all ages.

* * *

(Mortification of Sin in Believers)

Be killing sin or it will be killing you.

Verses - New Covenant Promises to Pray for Unbelievers

2007-10-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

(Verses Collected from DesiringGod Sermon: Prayer: The Work of Missions)

(Deu 30:6) And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

(Eze 11:19) And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

(Eze 36:27) And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

(2Ti 2:25) correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
(2Ti 2:26) and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

(Act 16:14) One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

Quotes - John Piper

2007-10-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

(Lionhearted and Lamblike - The Christian Husband as Head Part 2)

God does not call you to any calling for which he does not supply the power.

* * *

(Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ)

If you don’t savor Christ, you haven’t seen Christ for who he is. If you don’t prize him above all things, you haven’t apprehended his true worth.

* * *

(The Freedom of God in Unconditional Election)

God’s righteousness is essentially his unswerving allegiance to his own name and his own glory. God is righteous to the degree that he upholds and displays the honor of his name. He is righteous when he values most what is most valuable, and what is most valuable is his own glory. Therefore God’s justice, his righteousness, consists most fundamentally in doing what is consistent with the esteem and demonstration of his name, his glory. God would be unrighteous if he did not uphold and display his glory as infinitely valuable.

* * *

(When I Don’t Desire God)

Salvation is the awakening of a new taste for God, or it is nothing. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

(Psa 34:8) ... conversion is the creation of new desires, not just new duties; new delights, not just new deeds; new treasures, not just new tasks.

* * *

(When I Don't Desire God, Sermon)

Satan's problem is not doctrine, it's delight. Therefore getting our heads straight wont save us. And it wont glorify God by itself... All the right thinking about God is not as [complete] Satan's thinking about God.

* * *

Christian hedonism does not make happiness the measure of right and wrong. Christian hedonism makes God the measure of right and wrong and says: it is a sin to be unhappy about that... being 'out of sorts' with God's authority over their lives. Christian hedonism does not make a God out of happiness. It says: whatever makes you most happy is your God... Whom have I in heaven but thee?

(Psalm 73:25) And on earth there is nothing I desire except thee.

(Psa 16:1) A Miktam of David. Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

(Psa 16:2) I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."

It is joy in God, not joy in general that we are fighting for.

* * *

The devil has one appetite - faith... That is the only thing he wants to destroy. He cares not one lick about whether you are healthy or not. In fact if he can get your faith by making you healthy, he will make you healthy. If he can get your faith by making you sick, he will get you sick... You know that the devil is mainly into good things. He is not into bad things. We can spot bad things and avoid them. We don't spot good things that keep us from the best things, so he is really tricky...

* * *

(Spiritual Gifts )

Few things keep our pride quelled and our thinking about ourselves sober and humble like the awareness that the Spirit of God is absolutely sovereign and gives both the gifts and the faith to use them to whomever he pleases, in whatever degree he pleases, for the upbuilding of his body. The church should be the humblest and happiest fellowship on the earth.

* * *

(Sermon: Prayer: The Work of Missions)

Unless we believe that life is war, we will not know what prayer is for.

* * *

(Unsorted)

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

* * *
We exist to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples.

* * *

The unwasted life is the life that puts Christ on display as supremely valuable.

Verses - War

2007-10-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

(Verses Collected from DesiringGod Sermon: Prayer: The Work of Missions)

(Mar 13:13) And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

(Joh 15:16) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
(Joh 15:17) These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

(1Co 9:26) So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.
(1Co 9:27) But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

(2Co 10:3) For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh.
(2Co 10:4) For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
(2Co 10:5) We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

(Eph 6:12) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
(Eph 6:13) Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

(Eph 6:17) and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,
(Eph 6:18) praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

(1Ti 6:12) Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

(2Ti 4:7) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Quotes - B. B. Warfield

2007-09-29T13:10:00.000-07:00

(Works 7:113)

There is nothing in us or done by us at any stage of our earthly development, because of which we are acceptable to God. We must always be accepted for Christ’s sake, or we cannot ever be accepted at all. This is true of us not only when we believe; it is just as true of us after we have believed; it will continue to be true as long as we live. Our need of Christ does not cease with our believing; nor does the nature of our relation to Him or to God through Him ever alter, no matter what our attainments in Christian graces or our achievements in behavior may be. It is always on His “blood and righteousness” alone that we can rest.

Quotes - Robert Murray M'Cheyne

2007-09-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

(Unsorted)

You read your Bible regularly, of course; but do try and understand it, and still more to feel it.

Quotes - G. K. Chesterson

2007-07-01T23:59:00.000-07:00

(Unsorted)

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.

Song - Robert Lowry :: Nothing but the Blood

2007-06-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

(Nothing but the Blood)

Verse

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Refrain

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my pardon, this I see,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
For my cleansing this my plea,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Verse

Nothing can for sin atone,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
Naught of good that I have done,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

(Return to refrain)

Verse

This is all my hope and peace,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

(Return to refrain)

Verse

Now by this I’ll overcome—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
Now by this I’ll reach my home—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

(Return to refrain)

Verse

Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

(Return to refrain)

Song - Carl Gustav Boberg :: How Great Thou Art

2007-06-05T21:41:00.000-07:00

(How Great Thou Art)

Verse 1

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy power through-out the universe displayed.

Refrain

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Verse 2

When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:

(Repeat Refrain)

Verse 3

And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:

(Repeat Refrain)

Verse 4

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!

(Repeat Refrain)

Songs - Vicky Beeching :: Captivated

2007-06-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

(Captivated)

Verse 1

Your laughter, it echoes, like a joyous thunder;
Your whisper, it warms me, like a summer breeze.
Your anger, is fiercer, than the sun in its splendor;
You're close, and yet full of mystery.
And ever since the day, that I saw Your face;
try as I may, I cannot look away, I cannot look away

Chorus

Captivated by You,
I'm captivated by You.
May my life be one unbroken gaze,
fixed upon the beauty of Your face.

Verse 2

Beholding, is becoming, so as You fill my gaze;
I become, more like You, and my heart is changed.
Beholding, is becoming, so as You fill my view;
transform me, into the likeness of You.
This is what I ask, for all my days;
that I may, never look away, never look away.

Chorus with Pre-Bridge

Captivated by You,
I'm captivated by You.
May my life be one unbroken gaze,
fixed upon Your beauty, fixed upon Your beauty...

Bridge

No other, could ever be as beautiful;
No other, could ever steal my heart away;
No other, could ever be as beautiful;
No other could ever steal my heart away.
(I just can't look away)

Songs - Horatio Spafford :: It Is Well with My Soul

2007-06-05T21:23:00.001-07:00

(It Is Well with My Soul)

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Songs - Reginald Heber :: Holy, Holy, Holy

2007-06-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

(Reginald Heber, Holy Holy Holy, 1783-1826)

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! though the darkness hide Thee,
Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;
Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessèd Trinity!

Quotes - Thomas Watson

2007-05-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

(The Body of Divinity, Irish Calvinist, retrieved 22 May 2007)

The enjoyment of God’s sweet presence here is the most contented life: he is a hive of sweetness, a magazine of riches, a fountain of delight, Psalm 36:8,9. The higher the lark flies the sweeter it sings; and the higher we fly by the wings of faith, the more we enjoy of God. How is the heart inflamed in prayer and meditation! What joy and peace is there in believing! Is it not comfortable being in heaven? He that enjoys much of God in this life carries heaven about him. Oh let this be the thing we are chiefly ambitious of, the enjoyment of God in his ordinances! The enjoyment of God’s sweet presence here is an earnest of our enjoying him in heaven.

... God is the summum bonum, the chief good; therefore the enjoyment of him is the highest felicity.

... God is a superlative good. He is better than anything you can put in competition with him: he is better than health, riches, honor. Other things maintain life, he gives life. Who would put anything in balance with the Deity? Who would weigh a feather against a mountain of gold? God excels all other things more infinitely than the sun excels the light of a taper.

superlative God is an eternal good. He is the Ancient of days, yet never decays, nor waxes old, Dan. 7:9. The joy he gives is eternal, the crown fadeth not away, 1 Pet. 5:4. The glorified soul shall be ever solacing itself in God, feasting on his love, and sunning itself in the light of his countenance. We read of the river of pleasure at God’s right hand; but will not this in time be dried up? No. There is a fountain at the bottom which feeds it. Psalm 36:9, “With the Lord is the fountain of life.” Thus God is the chief good, and the enjoyment of God for ever is the highest felicity of which the soul is capable.

Others - John Piper :: ANTHEM Lust Fighting Model

2007-05-22T21:17:00.000-07:00

(ANTHEM Lust Fighting Model, Via DesiringGod Various, 22 May 07)

A – AVOID as much as is possible and reasonable the sights and situations that arouse unfitting desire.
N – Say NO to every lustful thought within five seconds.
T – TURN the mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction.
H – HOLD the promise and the pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until it pushes the other images out.
E – ENJOY a superior satisfaction.
M – MOVE into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors.

Quotes - John MacArthur

2007-05-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

(Unsorted)

If you are in a place in your life where you are never exposed to great, passionate, biblical preaching, you will suffer. You will suffer. It is just that simple.”

You cannot make up for the absence of the powerful, anointed preaching of the word of God.

Quotes - Martin Luther

2007-04-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

(Faith Alone)

People don't earn God's approval or receive life and salvation because of anything they've done. Rather, the only reason they receive life and salvation is because of God's kindness through Christ. There is no other way.

Many Christians are tired of hearing this teaching over and over. They think that they learned it all long ago. However, they barely understand how important it really is. If it continues to be taught as truth, the Christian church will remain united and pure — free from decay. This truth alone makes and sustains Christianity. You might hear an immature Christian brag about how well he knows that we receive God's approval through God's kindness and not because of anything we do to earn it. But if he goes on to say that this is easy to put into practice, then have no doubt he doesn't know what he's talking about, and he probably never will. We can never learn this truth completely or brag that we understand it fully. Learning this truth is an art. We will always remain students of it, and it will always be our teacher.

The people who truly understand that they receive God's approval by faith and put this into practice don't brag that they have fully mastered it. Rather, they think of it as a pleasant taste or aroma that they are always pursuing. These people are astonished that they can't comprehend it as fully as they would like. They hunger and thirst for it. They yearn for it more and more. They never get tired of hearing about this truth.

* * *

(The Preacher)

Some pastors and preachers are lazy and no good. They do not pray; they do not read; they do not search the Scripture... The call is: watch, study attend to reading. In truth you cannot read too much in Scripture; and what you read you cannot read too carefully, and what you read carefully you cannot understand too well, and what you understand well you cannot teach too well, and what you teach well you cannot live too well... The devil... the world... and our flesh are raging and raving against us. Therefore, dear sirs and brothers, pastors and preachers, pray, read, study, be diligent... This evil. shameful time is not the season for being lazy, for sleeping and snoring

* * *

(Unsorted)

Whilst a man is persuaded that he has it in his power to contribute anything, be it ever so little, to his salvation, he remains in carnal self-confidence; he is not a self-despairer, and therefore is not duly humbled before God, he believes he may lend a helping hand in his salvation, but on the contrary, whoever is truly convinced that the whole work depends singly on the will of God, such a person renounces his own will and strength; he waits and prays for the operation of God, nor waits and prays in vain . . .

* * *

Do you doubt if you are chosen? Then say your prayers and you may conclude that you are.

Quotes - Clyde Kilby

2007-04-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

(Unsorted)

Even if I turn out to be wrong, I shall bet my life on the assumption that this world is not idiotic, neither run by an absentee landlord, but that today, this very day, some stroke is being added to the cosmic canvas, that in due course I shall understand with joy, as a stroke made by an Architect who calls Himself Alpha and Omega.

Quotes - C.S. Lewis

2007-04-21T15:57:00.000-07:00

(Problem of Pain)

We are, not metaphorically but in very truth, a Divine work of art, something that God is making, and therefore something with which He will not be satisfied until it has *a certain character*. Here again we come up against what I have called the 'intolerable compliment'. Over a sketch made idly to amuse a child, an artist may not take much trouble: he may be be content to let it go even though it is not exactly as he meant it to be. But over the great picture of his life---the work which he loves, though in a fashion, as intensely as a man loves a woman or a mother a child---he will take endless trouble---and would, doubtless, thereby give endless trouble to the picture if it were sentient. One can imagine a sentient picture, after being rubbed and scraped and recommenced for the tenth time, wishing that it were only a thumbnail sketch whose making was over in a minute. In the same way, it is natural for us to wish that God had designed us for a less glorious and less arduous destiny; but then we are wishing not for more love but for less.

* * *

(Letters to Malcolm Chiefly on Prayer)

Pleasures are shafts of glory as it strikes our sensibility... But aren’t there bad, unlawful pleasures? Certainly there are. But in calling them “bad pleasures” I take it we are using a kind of shorthand. We mean “pleasures snatched by unlawful acts.” It is the stealing of the apples that is bad, not the sweetness. The sweetness is still a beam from the glory... I have tried since... to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration. I don’t mean simply by giving thanks for it. One must of course give thanks, but I meant something different... Gratitude exclaims, very properly, “How good of God to give me this.” Adoration says, “What must be the quality of that Being whose far-off and momentary coruscations are like this!” One’s mind runs back up the sunbeam to the sun... If this is Hedonism, it is also a somewhat arduous discipline. But it is worth some labour.

* * *

(The Weight of Glory)

If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from [secular philosophy] and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

* * *

(Surprised by Joy)

You cannot hope and also think about hoping at the same moment; for in hope we look to hope’s object and we interrupt this by (so to speak) turning round to look at the hope itself… The surest means of disarming an anger or a lust was to turn your attention from the girl or the insult and start examining the passion itself. The surest was of spoiling a treasure was to start examining your satisfaction… I perceived (and this was the wonder of wonders) that… I had been equally wrong in supposing that I desired Joy itself. Joy itself, considered simply as an event in my own mind, turned out to be of no value at all. All the value lay in that of which Joy was the desiring. And that object, quite clearly, was no state of my own mind or body at all. . . . I asked if Joy itself was what I wanted; and, labeling it “aesthetic experience,” had pretended I could answer Yes. But that answer too had broken down. Inexorably Joy proclaimed, “You want—I myself am your want of—something other, outside, not you nor any state of you"

* * *

(Reflections on the Psalms)

But the most obvious fact about praise – whether of God or anything – strangely escaped me. I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or the giving of honor. I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise unless (sometimes even if) shyness or the fear of boring others is deliberately brought in to check it. The world rings with praise – lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game – praise of weather, wines, dishes, actors, horses, colleges, countries, historical personages, children, flowers, mountains, rare stamps, rare beetles, even sometimes politicians and scholars … My whole, more general difficulty about the praise of God depended on my absurdly denying to us, as regards the supremely Valuable, what we delight to do, what indeed we can’t help doing, about everything else we value.

I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses, but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.

* * *

(Letters to Children)

Provided the thing is in itself right, the more one likes it and the less one has to “try to be good,” the better. A perfect man would never act from sense of duty; he’d always want the right thing more than the wrong one. Duty is only a substitute for love (of God and of other people), like a crutch, which is a substitute for a leg. Most of us need the crutch at times; but of course it’s idiotic to use the crutch when our own legs (our own loves, tastes, habits, etc.) can do the journey on their own.

* * *

(Mere Christianity)

If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.

* * *

(The Incarnation of the Word of God Introduction)

For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that "nothing happens" when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand.

Quotes - C. H. Spurgeon

2007-04-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

(A Defense of Calvinism)

If anyone should ask me what I mean by a Calvinist, I should reply, “He is one who says, Salvation is of the Lord.” I cannot find in Scripture any other doctrine than this. It is the essence of the Bible. “He only is my rock and my salvation.”

Tell me anything contrary to this truth, and it will be a heresy; tell me a heresy, and I shall find its essence here, that it has departed from this great, this fundamental, this rock-truth, “God is my rock and my salvation.” What is the heresy of Rome, but the addition of something to the perfect merits of Jesus Christ—the bringing in of the works of the flesh, to assist in our justification? And what is the heresy of Arminianism but the addition of something to the work of the Redeemer? Every heresy, if brought to the touchstone, will discover itself here.

I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else.

I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor.

* * *

(Christ the Cure for Troubled Hearts)

I hear another one say, 'But suppose I have committed the unpardonable sin;' to which I answer, 'But suppose you have not;' and there is just as much reason for supposing one way as supposing the other. And again I say, suppose you are wise enough to leave off supposing altogether. If you have committed the unpardonable sin, I should really like to know what it is; for, after reading, I think, as much of sound divinity as anybody, I have never yet been able to discover what it is; nor have I ever met with any divine who has seemed to me to approximate to any sure and certain description of what the unpardonable sin may be.
...
This much I do know about it; it is called a sin that is to death, and as soon as ever a man commits it, a spiritual death steals over him, so that he never desires mercy, never is conscious of his guilt, and never wishes to find salvation by Jesus Christ. He becomes dead, so dead that it is not merely the sin which is itself unpardonable, but the condition of heart into which it throws the man, so that he never seeks pardon, or even wishes for it. Now, my dear friends, you know that you have not come to that terrible state, because you are always restless about your soul's salvation, and always wishing that by some means you might be saved. Whatever supposition you bring, I believe that I can sweep your supposition away, or that it goes to be swept away. Therefore, do not be in doubt or fear because of a supposition.

* * *

(Christ Lifted Up)

The gospel never was unsuccessful yet, when it was preached with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. It is not fine orations upon the death of princes, or the movements of politics which will save souls. If we wish to have sinners saved and to have our churches increased; if we desire the spread of God’s kingdom, the only thing whereby we can hope to accomplish the end, is the lifting up of Christ; for, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me."

* * *

(God's Providence)

I believe that every particle of dust that dances in the sunbeam does not move an atom more or less than God wishes—that every particle of spray that dashes against the steamboat has its orbit as well as the sun in the heavens—that the chaff from the hand of the winnower is steered as the stars in their courses. The creeping of an aphis over the rosebud is as much fixed as the march of the devastating pestilence—the fall of sere leaves from a poplar is as fully ordained as the tumbling of an avalanche.

* * *

(Anguish and Agonies)

It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think that I have an affliction which God never sent me, that the bitter cup was never filled by his hand, that my trials were never measured out by him, nor sent to me by his arrangement of their weight and quantity.

* * *

I am afraid that all the grace that I have got of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours, might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows, and pains, and griefs, is altogether incalculable ... Affliction is the best bit of furniture in my house. It is the best book in a minister's library...

* * *

(An All Round Ministry)

I dare say the greatest earthly blessing that God can give to any of us is health, with the exception of sickness ... If some men, that I know of could only be favoured with a month of rheumatism, it would, by God's grace mellow them marvelously.

* * *

(Lectures to My Students)

Never neglect your spiritual meals, or you will lack stamina and your spirits will sink. Live on the substantial doctrines of grace, and you will outlive and out-work those who delight in the pastry and syllabubs of 'modern thought'

* * *

It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less. On, on, on for ever, without recreation my suit spirits emancipated from this 'heavy clay', but while we are in this tabernacle, we must every now and then cry halt, and serve the Lord by holy inaction and consecrated leisure. Let no tender conscience doubt the lawfulness of going out of harness for a while.

* * *

The condition of your body must be attended to... a little more... common sense would be a great gain to some who are ultra spiritual, and attribute all their moods of feeling to some supernatural cause when the real reason lies far nearer to hand. Has it not often happened that dyspepsia has been mistaken for backsliding, and bad digestion has been set down as a hard heart?

* * *

There can be little doubt that sedentary habits have a tendency to create despondency in some constitutions... To sit long in one posture, poring over a book, or driving a quill, is in itself a taxing of nature; but add to this a badly-ventilated chamber, a body which has long been without muscular exercise, and a heart burdened with many cares, and we have all the elements for preparing a seething cauldron of despair, especially in the dim months of fog.

...

... He who forgets the humming of the bees among the heather, the cooing of the wood-pigeons in the forest, the song of birds in the woods, the rippling of rills among the rushes, and the sighing of the wind among the pines, needs not wonder if his heart forgets to sing and his soul grows heavy. A day's breathing of fresh air upon the hills, or a few hours, ramble in the beech woods... calm, would sweep the cobwebs out of the brain of scores of our toiling ministers who are now but half alive. A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind's face, would not 'give grace' to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best.

...

The ferns and the rabbits, the streams and the trouts, the fir trees and the squirrels, the primroses and the violets, the farm-yard, the new-mown hay, and the fragrant hops—these are the best medicine for hypochondriacs, the surest tonics for the declining, the best refreshments for the weary. For lack of opportunity, or inclination, these great remedies are neglected, and the student becomes a self-immolated victim.

* * *

(Encouragement for the Depressed)

Thank God for a little discernment–though you see men as trees walking, and your eyes are only half opened. A little light is better than none at all. Not long since you were in total darkness. Now if there be a glimmer, be thankful, for remember where a glimmer can enter the full noontide can come, yea, and shall come in due season. Therefore, despise not the time of small discernment.

... if our salvation depended upon our feelings, we should be lost one day and saved another, for they are as fickle as the weather, and go up and down like a barometer. We live by faith, and if that faith be weak, bless God that weak faith is faith, and that weak faith is true faith. If thou believest in Christ Jesus, though thy faith be as a grain of mustard seed, it will save thee, and it will, by-and-bye, grow into something stronger. A diamond is a diamond, and the smallest scrap of it is of the same nature as the Koh-i-noor, and he that hath but little faith hath faith for all that; and it is not great faith that is essential to salvation, but faith that links the soul to Christ; and that soul is, therefore, saved. Instead of mourning so much that thy faith is not strong, bless God that thou hast any faith at all, for if he sees that thou despisest the faith he has given thee, it may be long before he gives thee more. Prize that little, and when he sees that thou art so glad and thankful for that little, then will he multiply it and increase it, and thy faith shall mount even to the full assurance of faith.

...do not despond because you have the day of small things, but in the next place, do not stand still and be satisfied with what you have; but prove your value of the little by earnestly seeking after more grace. Do not despise the grace that God has given you, but bless God for it...

...Be it remembered that little faith is saving faith, and that the day of small things is a day of safe things. Be it remembered that it is natural that living things should begin small. The man is first a babe. The daylight is first of all twilight. It is by little and by little that we come unto the stature of men in Christ Jesus. The day of small things is not only natural, but promising. Small things are living things. Let them alone, and they grow. The day of small things has its beauty and its excellence.

* * *

(Unsorted)

O brethren, we shall soon have to die! We look each other in the face to-day in health, but there will come a day when others will look down upon our pallid countenances as we lie in our coffins ... It will matter little to us who shall gaze upon us then, but it will matter eternally how we have discharged our work during our lifetime

* * *

I believe the man who is not willing to submit to the electing love and sovereign grace of God, has great reason to question whether he is a Christian at all, for the spirit that kicks against that is the spirit of the devil, and the spirit of the unhumbled, unrenewed heart.

* * *

The best definition of humility I ever heard was this... to think rightly of ourselves...

When you are half an inch above the ground, you are that half-inch too high. Your place is to be nothing.

Others - John Piper :: Sermon Exerpt (SBTS 27 Mar 07)

2007-04-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

(Retrieved from Said at Southern Seminary Blog, on 13 Apr 2007: Video - John Piper's Christ-Centered Grammar at SBTS)

When you have faith in Jesus...
You rejoice in his glorious deity as Christ.
You rejoice in the humble, sinless, virgin-born humanity of Jesus.
You're satisfied by the universe-creating, miracle-working, power of Jesus.
You're satisfied by the covenant-keeping, law-fulfilling, righeousness performing, perfection-providing, obedience of Jesus.
You're satisfied by the wrath-bearing, justice-satisfying, sin-atoning, death of Jesus.
You're satisfied by the death-defeating, devil-destroying, heaven-opening, resurrection of Jesus.
And you're satisfied by the sovereign, interceding, ever present, never leaving us alone, triumphant reign of Jesus at the Father's right hand.

And if that doesn't delight you, then this verse will never make any sense to you:
"Not that we Lord it over your faith - we work with you for your joy. I'm coming along side you for your joy. I will die for your joy. I will be beaten five times with thirty-nine lashes if I can just bring about joy in your heart, in Jesus above all things."

So will you embrace that?
Will that be what you go to do in the churches...
or will you treat this as somehow icing on the cake,
like so many people do?

We work with you for you joy
We work with you so that:
Jesus Christ would be seen and experienced as the supreme treasure of your life,
in all that He is for you.

Others - Other :: Nicene Creed

2007-04-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

(The Nicene Creed, retrieved 10 April 2007, from the Spurgeon Archive)

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father [and the Son].
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. AMEN.

Others - Other :: Apostles' Creed

2007-04-10T08:57:00.000-07:00

(The Apostles' Creed, retrieved 10 April 2007, from the Spurgeon Archive)

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;

who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;

he descended into hell;

the third day he rose again from the dead;

he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body;
and the life everlasting.

Amen

Others - Me :: Reformed Blog and Article Search

2007-04-09T15:16:00.000-07:00

In addition to using the excellent search function at Monergism, the following Google custom search is a collection of reformed blogs and websites I have gathered. The search is by no means sophisticated, and is mainly for myself.

Verses - Will of God

2007-04-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

God is sovereign over all things and yet disapproves of many things

* * *

### 1. God’s Will of Decree, or Sovereign Will

(Isa 53:10)
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

(Pro 16:1)
The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

(Pro 16:33)
The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.

(Pro 21:1)
The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

(Dan 4:35)
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?"

(Ezra 1:1)
In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:

(Mat 10:29)
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

(Mat 26:39)
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will."

(Act 4:27)
for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

(Act 4:28)
to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

(Rom 9:14)
What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!

(Rom 9:15) For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. "
(Rom 9:16) So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
(Rom 9:17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. "
(Rom 9:18) So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
(Rom 9:19) You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will? "
(Rom 9:20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this? "
(Rom 9:21) Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honored use and another for dishonorable use?
(Rom 9:22) What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
(Rom 9:23) in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory --
(Rom 9:24) even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

(Eph 1:11)
In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

(1Pe 3:17)
For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

* * *

### 2. God’s Will of Command

(Mat 7:21)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

(Rom 12:2)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(1Th 4:3)
For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

(1Th 5:18)
give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

(1Jo 2:17)
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

* * *

### Possible Objections?

(Jer 19:5)
and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind--

(Jer 32:35)
They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Verses - Sin

2007-03-31T02:53:00.000-07:00

(Jer 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

* * *

(Mat 5:48) You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

* * *

(Rom 1:21) For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

(Rom 1:22) Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

(Rom 1:23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

(Rom 1:24) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

(Rom 1:25) because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

(Rom 1:26) For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

(Rom 1:27) and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

(Rom 1:28) And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

(Rom 1:29) They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,

(Rom 1:30) slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

(Rom 1:31) foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

(Rom 1:32) Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

* * *
(Rom 3:9) What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,

(Rom 3:10) as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;

(Rom 3:11) no one understands; no one seeks for God.

(Rom 3:12) All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."

(Rom 3:13) "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."

(Rom 3:14) "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."

(Rom 3:15) "Their feet are swift to shed blood;

(Rom 3:16) in their paths are ruin and misery,

(Rom 3:17) and the way of peace they have not known."

(Rom 3:18) "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

* * *

(Rom 3:23) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

* * *

(Rom 5:13) for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

* * *

(Rom 14:23) But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

* * *

(Gal 5:19) Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,

(Gal 5:20) idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,

(Gal 5:21) envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

* * *

(1Th 4:3) For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality;

(1Th 4:4) that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor,

(1Th 4:5) not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

(1Th 4:6) that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you.

(1Th 4:7) For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

(1Th 4:8) Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

(1Th 4:9) Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another,

* * *

(Jas 2:10) For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.

* * *

(Jas 4:17) So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

* * *

(1Pe 1:14) As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

(1Pe 1:15) but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

(1Pe 1:16) since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

* * *

(1Jn 3:4) Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.

Other - PHIL200B :: Philosophy Essay Writing Tips

2007-03-26T17:38:00.000-07:00

General

Spend 50% of your answer to the summary, then 50% to your analysis.
Aim for 2-3 distinct points to focus on to summarize, then make distinct points to focus on to main objects or comparisons to make, explaining each point carefully and clearly, directly relating to the points made in the summary

Example Outline

Overall position of writer thesis
Point 1 summary, expand
Point 2 summary, expand
Point 3 summary, expand
State your overall objections/analysis thesis
Objection 1, explain and relate to summary
Objection 2, explain and relate to summary
Objection 3, explain and relate to summary
State your summary of position of writer, your own objections/analysis

Verses - Glory

2007-03-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

(Exo 3:14) God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And he said, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

* * *

(Psa 79:9) Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake!

* * *

(Isa 6:3) And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"

* * *

(Isa 48:9) "For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off.

(Isa 48:10) Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.

(Isa 48:11) For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

* * *

(1Co 10:31) So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Verses - Born Again

2007-03-18T10:26:00.000-07:00

(Psa 51:10) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

* * *

(Eze 11:19) And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,

(Eze 11:20) that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.

(Eze 11:21) But as for those whose heart goes after their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their deeds upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD."

* * *

(Rom 7:15) I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

(Rom 7:16) Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.

(Rom 7:17) So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

(Rom 7:18) For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

(Rom 7:19) For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

(Rom 7:20) Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

(Rom 7:21) So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.

(Rom 7:22) For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,

(Rom 7:23) but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

(Rom 7:24) Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

(Rom 7:25) Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

* * *

(Rom 12:1) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

(Rom 12:2) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

* * *

(Joh 3:3) Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

(Joh 3:4) Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"

(Joh 3:5) Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

(Joh 3:6) That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

* * *

(2Co 5:17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

* * *

(Eph 2:1) And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

(Eph 2:2) in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--

(Eph 2:3) among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

(Eph 2:4) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,

(Eph 2:5) even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--

(Eph 2:6) and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

* * *

(1Pe 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Quotes - Jonathan Edwards

2007-03-18T02:38:00.000-07:00

(Religious Affections)

... they first rejoice, and are elevated with the fact that they are made much of by God; and then on that ground, he seems in a sort, lovely to them... They are pleased in the highest degree, in hearing how much God and Christ make of them. So that their joy is really a joy in themselves, and not in God.

* * *

True gratitude or thankfulness to God for his kindness to us, arises from a foundation laid before, of love to God for what he is in himself; whereas a natural gratitude has no such antecedent foundation. The gracious stirrings of grateful affection to God, for kindness received, always are from a stock of love already in the heart, established in the first place on other grounds, viz. God's own excellency.

* * *

Thus the soul may have a kind of intuitive knowledge of the divinity of the things exhibited in the gospel; not that he judges the doctrines of the gospel to be from God, without any argument or deduction at all; but it is without any long chain of arguments; the argument is but one, and the evidence direct; the mind ascends to the truth of the gospel but by one step, and that is its divine glory.

* * *

Nothing can be more evident, than that a saving belief of the gospel is here spoken of... as arising from the mind’s being enlightened to behold the divine glory of the things it exhibits.

* * *

Unless men may come to a reasonable, solid persuasion and conviction of the truth of the gospel, by the internal evidences of it... by a sight of its glory; it is impossible that those who are illiterate, and unacquainted with history, should have any thorough and effectual conviction of it at all. They may without this, see a great deal of probability of it; it may be reasonable for them to give much credit to what learned men and historians tell them... But to have a conviction, so clear, and evident, and assuring, as to be sufficient to induce them, with boldness to sell all, confidently and fearlessly to run the venture of the loss of all things, and of enduring the most exquisite and long continued torments, and to trample the world under foot, and count all things but dung for Christ, the evidence they can have from history, cannot be sufficient.

* * *

There is no spiritual conviction of the judgment, but what arises from an apprehension of the spiritual beauty and glory of divine things.

* * *

(The Pure In Heart Blessed)

He [Christ] knew that all mankind were in the pursuit of happiness, he has directed them in the true way to it, and he tells them what they must become in order to be blessed and happy.

* * *

(The Spiritual Blessings of the Gospel Represented by a Feast)
There is no such thing as excess in our taking of this spiritual
food. There is no such virtue as temperance in spiritual feasting.

* * *

(Sacrament Sermon on Canticles 5:1)

Persons need not and ought not to set any bounds to their spiritual and gracious. [They ought] to be endeavoring by all possible ways to inflame their desires and to obtain more spiritual pleasures. . . . Our hungerings and thirstings after God and Jesus Christ and after holiness can’t be too great for the value of these things, for they are things of infinite value... [Therefore] endeavor to promote spiritual appetites by laying yourself in the way of allurement...

* * *

(Some Thoughts Concerning the Revival)

I should think myself in the way of my duty to raise the affections of
my hearers as high as possibly I can, provided that they are affected
with nothing but truth, and with affections that are not disagreeable
to the nature of what they are affected with.

* * *

(God Glorified in Man’s Dependence)
The redeemed have all their objective good in God. God himself is the great good which they are brought to the possession and enjoyment of by redemption. He is the highest good, and the sum of all that good which Christ purchased. God is the inheritance of the saints; he is the portion of their souls. God is their wealth and treasure, their food, their Life, their dwelling- place, their ornament and diadem, and their everlasting honour and glory. They have none in heaven but God; he is the great good which the redeemed are received to at death, and which they are to rise to at the end of the world. The Lord God is the light of the heavenly Jerusalem; and is the “river of the water of life ” that runs, and “the tree of life that grows, in the midst of the paradise of God.” The glorious excellencies and beauty of God will be what will for ever entertain the minds of the saints, and the love of God will be their everlasting feast. The redeemed will indeed enjoy other things; they will enjoy the angels, and will enjoy one another; but that which they shall enjoy in the angels, or each other, or in any thing else whatsoever that will yield them delight and happiness, will be what shall be seen of God in them.

* * *

(Excellencies of Christ)

infinite highness and infinite condescension... infinite justice and infinite grace... infinite glory and lowest humility... infinite majesty and transcendent meekness... deepest reverence towards God and equality with God ... infinite worthiness of good, and the greatest patience under sufferings of evil . . . an exceeding spirit of obedience, with supreme dominion over heaven and earth... absolute sovereignty and perfect resignation... self-sufficiency, and an entire trust and reliance on God.

Quotes - Al Mohler

2007-03-17T09:46:00.000-07:00

(DGM - Sex and the Supremacy of God Event Message)

The Christian worldview explains that the good, the beautiful and the true are the same thing.

Songs - Michael Gungor :: Ancient Days

2007-03-16T17:32:00.000-07:00

(Ancient Days)

Verse 1
You have never changed,
your love is endless and your mercy has remained,
through all the ages you shine, so bright.

Nothing can compare,
you made the heavens and your glory fills the earth,
through all the ages, you ride the ancient skies.

Chrous
And you ride the Ancient Skies, You’re amazing;
Creation cries, and so will I...

Verse 2
You have never changed,
your love is endless and your mercy has remained,
through all the ages you shine, so bright.

Nothing can compare,
you made the heavens and your glory fills the air;
through all the ages you ride,
the ancient skies.

To Chrous (x2)
Pre-Bridge Now we stand amazed, and we will sing the word they sang in ancient days,
A single word that’s overflowing in this praise, hallelujah...

Bridge
Hallelujah... (repeat)

Verses - Predestination

2007-03-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

(Gen 50:20) As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

* * *

(Exo 33:19b) I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

* * *

(Isa 46:9) remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,

(Isa 46:10) declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'

(Isa 46:11) calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.

* * *

(Joh 6:64) But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)

* * *

(Joh 13:19) I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.

* * *

(Mat 10:29) Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

(Mat 10:30) But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

* * *

(Act 4:27) for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,

(Act 4:28) to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

* * *

(Rom 8:28) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

* * *

(Rom 9:10) And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac,

(Rom 9:11) though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad--in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls--

(Rom 9:12) she was told, "The older will serve the younger."

(Rom 9:13) As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

(Rom 9:14) What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means!

(Rom 9:15) For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

(Rom 9:16) So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

(Rom 9:17) For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

(Rom 9:18) So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

(Rom 9:19) You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?"

(Rom 9:20) But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?"

(Rom 9:21) Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?

(Rom 9:22) What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

(Rom 9:23) in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory--

* * *

(Eph 1:5) he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

(Eph 1:6) to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

* * *

(1Pe 3:17) For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.

* * *

(1Pe 4:19) Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

Worldly - Bertrand Russell :: How I Write

2007-03-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

(How I Write by Bertrand Russell)

I wished to say everything in the smallest number of words in which it could be said clearly.

...

"Put a comma every four words", and "never use 'and' except at the beginning of a sentence".

...

What I do not find is that I can improve a sentence when I am satisfied with what it means.

...

A style is not good unless it is an intimate and almost involuntary expression of the personality of the writer, and then only if the writer's personality is worth expressing. But although direct imitation is always to be deprecated, there is much to be gained by familiarity ith good prose, especially in cultivating a sense for prose rhythm.

...

First: never use a long word if a short word will do. Second: if you want to make a statement with a great many qualifications, put some of the qualifications in separate sentences. Third: do not let the beginning of your sentence lead the reader to an expectation which is contradicted by the end.

Worldly - Hugh Macleod :: how to be creative

2007-03-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

(gapingvoid: how to be creative)

Ignore everybody.
The idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to change the world.
Put the hours in.
If your biz plan depends on you suddenly being "discovered" by some big shot, your plan will probably fail.
You are responsible for your own experience.
Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten.
Keep your day job.
Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion creativity.
Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb.
The more talented somebody is, the less they need the props.
Don't try to stand out from the crowd; avoid crowds altogether.
If you accept the pain, it cannot hurt you.
Never compare your inside with somebody else's outside.
Dying young is overrated.
The most important thing a creative person can learn professionally is where to draw the red line that separates what you are willing to do, and what you are not.
The world is changing.
Merit can be bought. Passion can't.
Avoid the Watercooler Gang.
Sing in your own voice.
The choice of media is irrelevant.
Selling out is harder than it looks.
Nobody cares. Do it for yourself.
Worrying about "Commercial vs. Artistic" is a complete waste of time.
Don’t worry about finding inspiration. It comes eventually.
You have to find your own schtick.
Write from the heart.
The best way to get approval is not to need it.
Power is never given. Power is taken.
Whatever choice you make, The Devil gets his due eventually.
The hardest part of being creative is getting used to it.
Remain frugal.

* * *

GOOD IDEAS ALTER THE POWER BALANCE IN RELATIONSHIPS, THAT IS WHY GOOD IDEAS ARE ALWAYS INITIALLY RESISTED.

...

The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will. How your own sovereignty inspires other people to find their own sovereignty, their own sense of freedom and possibility, will change the world far more than the the work's objective merits ever will.

Your idea doesn't have to be big. It just has to be yours alone. The more the idea is yours alone, the more freedom you have to do something really amazing.

The more amazing, the more people will click with your idea. The more people click with your idea, the more it will change the world.

...

Nobody can tell you if what you're doing is good, meaningful or worthwhile. The more compelling the path, the more lonely it is.

Every creative person is looking for "The Big Idea". You know, the one that is going to catapult them out from the murky depths of obscurity and on to the highest planes of incandescent ludicity.

The one that's all love-at-first-sight with the Zeitgeist.

The one that's going to get them invited to all the right parties, metaphorical or otherwise.

So naturally you ask yourself, if and when you finally come up with The Big Idea, after years of toil, struggle and doubt, how do you know whether or not it is "The One"?

Answer: You don't.

There's no glorious swelling of existential triumph.

That's not what happens.

All you get is this rather kvetchy voice inside you that seems to say, "This is totally stupid.This is utterly moronic. This is a complete waste of time. I'm going to do it anyway."

And you go do it anyway.

Second-rate ideas like glorious swellings far more. Keeps them alive longer.

...

"The first rule of business," he said, chuckling at my naïveté, "is never sell something you love. Otherwise, you may as well be selling your children."

...

So the bars of West Hollywood and New York are awash with people throwing their lives away in the desperate hope of finding a shortcut, any shortcut. And a lot of them aren't even young anymore; their B-plans having been washed away by Vodka & Tonics years ago.

Meanwhile their competition is at home, working their asses off.

...

The only people who can change the world are people who want to. And not everybody does.

...

Piccasso was a terrible colorist. Turner couldn't paint human beings worth a damn. Saul Steinberg's formal drafting skills were appalling. TS Eliot had a full-time day job. Henry Miller was a wildly uneven writer. Bob Dylan can't sing or play guitar.

But that didn't stop them, right?

So I guess the next question is, "Why not?"

I have no idea. Why should it?

...

A Picasso always looks like Piccasso painted it. Hemingway always sounds like Hemingway. A Beethoven Symphony always sounds like a Beethoven's Syynphony. Part of being a master is learning how to sing in nobody else's voice but your own.

...

[The best way to get approval is not to need it.] This is equally true in art and business. And love. And sex. And just about everything else worth having.

...

People who are "ready" give off a different vibe than people who aren't. Animals can smell fear; maybe that's it.

Verses - Sloth

2007-03-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

(Pro 22:13) The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!"

* * *

(Pro 26:16) The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

* * *

(Ecc 5:12) Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep.

* * *

(Jer 29:13) You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

(Jer 29:14) I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

* * *

(Luk 10:27) And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."

* * *

(Rom 12:9) Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

(Rom 12:10) Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

(Rom 12:11) Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

* * *

(1Co 15:58) Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

* * *

(Eph 5:15) Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,

(Eph 5:16) making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

* * *

(Php 3:14) I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

* * *

(1Th 4:11) and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,

(1Th 4:12) so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

* * *

(1Ti 6:12) Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

* * *

(Heb 12:1) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

* * *

(2Pe 1:10) Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

* * *

(1Pe 5:2) shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly;

* * *

(2Pe 1:5) For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,

(2Pe 1:6) and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,

(2Pe 1:7) and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

* * *

(Rev 3:15) "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!

(Rev 3:16) So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Others - John Piper :: Fighting Lust

2007-03-14T00:16:00.000-07:00

(ANTHEM lust fighting model, As Summarized in Blog Entry by Abraham Piper 14 Mar 07, located at http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/498_strategies_for_fighting_lust/)

A - Avoid temptation as much as is reasonably possible.
N - Say NO to every lustful thought within five seconds.
T - Turn your mind forcefully toward Christ as a superior satisfaction.
H - Hold the promises and pleasure of Christ firmly in your mind until they push out the other images and ideas.
E - Enjoy Jesus. Sin cannot keep its appeal when it is compared to the pleasure of knowing Christ.
M - Move into a useful activity away from idleness and other vulnerable behaviors.

Verses - Word

2007-03-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

(Psa 1:1) Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

(Psa 1:2) but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

(Psa 1:3) He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

* * *

(Psa 19:8) the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

* * *

(Psa 19:7) The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;

(Psa 19:8) the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;

(Psa 19:9) the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.

(Psa 19:10) More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

(Psa 19:11) Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

* * *

(Psa 119:9) How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.

(Psa 119:10) With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

(Psa 119:11) I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

(Psa 119:12) Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!

(Psa 119:13) With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.

(Psa 119:14) In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

(Psa 119:15) I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.

(Psa 119:16) I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

* * *

(Jer 15:16) Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.

* * *

(Mat 4:4) But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

* * *

(Joh 17:17) Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

* * *

(Rom 10:17) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

* * *

(Rom 15:4) For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

* * *

(Eph 6:17) and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,

* * *

(2Ti 3:14) But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it

(2Ti 3:15) and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

(2Ti 3:16) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

(2Ti 3:17) that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

Quotes - William Law

2007-03-13T06:23:00.000-07:00

(Unsorted)

And if you will here stop, and ask yourself, why you are not as [holy] as the primitive Christians were, your own heart will tell you, that it is neither through ignorance, nor inability, but purely because you never thoroughly intended it… This doctrine does not suppose, that we have no need of divine grace, or that it is in our own power to make ourselves perfect. It only supposes, that throught the [lack] of a sincere intention of pleasing God in all our actions, we fall into such irregularities of life, as by the ordinary means of grace, we should have power to avoid.

Verses - Security

2007-03-13T04:53:00.000-07:00

(Psa 84:10) For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

(Psa 84:11) For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

(Psa 84:12) O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!

* * *

(Psa 103:1) Of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

(Psa 103:2) Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits,

(Psa 103:3) who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

(Psa 103:4) who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

(Psa 103:5) who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

(Psa 103:6) The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

(Psa 103:7) He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.

* * *

(Rom 8:28) And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

* * *

(Rom 8:32) He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

* * *

(Rom 8:38) For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

(Rom 8:39) nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

* * *

(Eph 1:3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

(Eph 1:4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love

(Eph 1:5) he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

(Eph 1:6) to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Verses - Justification

2007-03-12T03:23:00.000-07:00

(Joh 6:53) So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

(Joh 6:54) Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

(Joh 6:55) For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

(Joh 6:56) Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.

(Joh 6:57) As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.

* * *

(Joh 15:7) If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

* * *

(Rom 3:24) and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

* * *

(Rom 5:19) For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.

* * *

(2Co 5:21) For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

* * *

(Gal 2:16) yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

* * *

(Eph 1:7) In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

* * *

(Php 3:9) and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith--

Worldly - Other :: General Planning

2007-03-11T19:01:00.000-07:00

(SMART Planning Model)

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timeline

* * *

(CBA Planning Model)

Conceive
Believe
Achieve

Songs - William Cowper :: Light Shining Out of Darkness

2007-03-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

(Light Shining Out of Darkness)

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines,
Of never-failing skill;
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread;
Are big with mercy, and shall break,
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Others - John Piper :: Prayer Models

2007-03-11T16:48:00.000-07:00

(IOUS Daily Prayer Model, Via DesiringGod Various, 11 March 07)

I
(Psa 119:36) Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!

O
(Psa 119:18) Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.

U
(Psa 86:11) Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.

S
(Psa 90:15) Make us glad [Satisfy] for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.

* * *

(APTAT Daily Prayer Model, Via DesiringGod, 11 March 07)

A
Acknowledge your inability to do good on your own.

P
Pray for divine enablement.

T
Trust the promises of God for help and strength and guidance.

A
Act in obedience to God's Word.

T
Thank God for whatever good comes.

Verses - Jesus

2007-03-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

(Mat 12:42) The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.

* * *

(Mat 28:18) And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

* * *

(Mar 14:61) But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?"

(Mar 14:62) And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."

(Mar 14:63) And the high priest tore his garments and said, "What further witnesses do we need?

* * *

(Joh 8:58) Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."

* * *

(Joh 11:43) When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out."

(Joh 11:44) The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

* * *

(Joh 13:1) Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

* * *

(Joh 17:5) And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

* * *

(2Co 4:4) In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

(2Co 4:5) For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

(2Co 4:6) For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

* * *

(Heb 12:2) looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Quotes - Jim Eliot

2007-03-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

(Journals)

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.

(Luk 16:9) And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Quotes - John Calvin

2007-03-11T14:17:00.002-07:00

(Institutes of the Christian Religion)

If human happiness, whose perfection it is to be united with God, were hidden from man, he would in fact be bereft of the principal use of his understanding. Thus, also the chief activity of the soul is to aspire thither. Hence the more anyone endeavors to approach to God, the more he proves himself endowed with reason.

* * *

(Bondage of the Will)

...we allow that man has choice and that it is self-determined, so that if he does anything evil, it should be imputed to him and to his own voluntary choosing. We do away with coercion and force, because this contradicts the nature of the will and cannot coexist with it. We deny that choice is free, because through man’s innate wickedness it is of necessity driven to what is evil and cannot seek anything but evil. And from this it is possible to deduce what a great difference there is between necessity and coercion. For we do not say that man is dragged unwillingly into sinning, but that because his will is corrupt he is held captive under the yoke of sin and therefore of necessity will in an evil way. For where there is bondage, there is necessity. But it makes a great difference whether the bondage is voluntary or coerced. We locate the necessity to sin precisely in corruption of the will, from which follows that it is self-determined.

Songs - Lynn DeShazo :: Be Magnified

2007-03-11T14:17:00.001-07:00

(Be Magnified)

Verse 1
I have made you too small in my eyes.
O Lord, forgive me;
And I have believed in a lie
That you were unable to help me.
But now, O Lord, I see my wrong.
Heal my heart and show yourself strong;
And in my eyes and with my song,
O Lord, be magnified, O Lord, be magnified.

Chorus
Be magnified O Lord,You are highly exalted;
And there is nothing You can't do,
Oh Lord my eyes are on you.
Be magnified, O Lord, be magnified.

Verse 2
I have leaned on the wisdom of men.
O Lord, forgive me;
And I have responded to them
Instead of your light and your mercy.
But now, O Lord, I see my wrong.
Heal my heart and show yourself strong;
And in my eyes with my song,
O Lord, be magnified, O Lord, be magnified.

Songs - Kutless :: Sea of Faces

2007-03-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

(Sea of Faces)

I see the city lights all around me
Everyone's obscure
Ten million people each with their problems
Why should anyone care

And in Your eyes I can see
I am not just a man, vastly lost in this world
Lost in a Sea of Faces
Your body is the bread, Your blood is the wine
Because you traded Your life for mine

Sometimes my life it feels so trivial
Immersed in the greatness of space
Yet somehow you still find the time for me
It's then You show me Your love

And In Your eyes I can see
And in Your arms I will be
I am not just a man, vastly lost in this world
Lost in a Sea of Faces
Your body is the bread, Your blood is the wine
Because you traded Your life for mine

If only my one heart
Was all you'd gain from all it cost
Well I know you would have still been a man
With a reason
To willingly offer your life

I am not just a man, vastly lost in this world
Lost in a Sea of Faces
Your body is the bread, Your blood is the wine
Because you traded Your life for mine

Just one in a million faces

Quotes - J.C. Ryle

2007-03-11T14:16:00.003-07:00

(Christ is All)

But alas, how little fit for heaven are many who talk of ‘going to heaven’ when they die, while they manifestly have no saving faith, and no real acquaintance with Christ. You give Christ no honor here. You have no communion with Him. You do not love Him. Alas! what could you do in heaven? It would be no place for you. Its joys would be no joys for you. Its happiness would be a happiness into which you could not enter. Its employments would be a weariness and burden to your heart. Oh, repent and change before it be too late!

Songs - Charlie Hall :: Give Us Clean Hands

2007-03-11T14:16:00.002-07:00

(Give Us Clean Hands)

Verse
We bow our hearts, we bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes, from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

Give us clean hands, Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

Oh God let us be, a generation that seeks
that seeks your face, oh God of Jacob
Oh God let us be, a generation that seeks
that seeks your face, oh God of Jacob

Songs - Mary Byrne :: Be Thou My Vision

2007-03-11T14:16:00.001-07:00

(Be Thou My Vision)

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;
be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,
be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;
be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;
be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
be thou my whole armor, be thou my true might;
be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower:
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:
be thou mine inheritance now and always;
be thou and thou only the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, thou heaven's bright sun,
O grant me its joys after victory is won;
great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

Songs - John Newton :: Amazing Grace

2007-03-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

(John Newton, Amazing Grace, 1772)

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That sav’d a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears reliev’d;
How precious did that grace appear, The hour I first believ’d!

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come;
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promis’d good to me, His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil, A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call’d me here below, Will be forever mine.

Quotes - Augustine of Hippo

2007-03-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

(Confessions)

For there exists a delight that is not given to the wicked, but to those honoring Thee, O God, without desiring recompense, the joy of whom Thou art Thyself! And this is the blessed life, to rejoice towards Thee, about Thee, for Thy sake.

* * *

He loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake.

* * *

Command what you wish, but give what you command.

* * *

How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose . . . ! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not to flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves. . . . O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.

Quotes - Jerry Bridges

2007-03-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

(Unsorted)

It is the intention to please God in all our actions that is the key to commitment to a life of holiness. If we do not make such a commitment to obedience without exception, we will constantly find ourselves making exceptions. We will have a ‘just one more time’ syndrome in our lives. But the truth is, the ‘one more time’ manner of thinking undermines our commitment. Every time we give in to a temptation, even though it may seem small and insignificant to us, we make it easier to give in the next time.

Quotes - G.K. Chesterton

2007-03-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

(Unsorted)

The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried.

Quotes - Blaise Pascal

2007-03-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

(Unsorted)

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

* * *

Man is obviously made for thinking. Therein lies all his dignity and his merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought. Now the order of thought is to begin with ourselves, and with our author and our end. Now what does the world think about? Never about that, but about dancing, playing the lute, singing, writing verse, tilting at the ring, etc., and fighting, becoming king, without thinking what it means to be a king or to be a man.

* * *

(On Diversions, Pensees)

139. Diversion.--When I have occasionally set myself to consider the different distractions of men, the pains and perils to which they expose themselves at court or in war, whence arise so many quarrels, passions, italic and often bad ventures, etc., I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber. A man who has enough to live on, if he knew how to stay with pleasure at home, would not leave it to go to sea or to besiege a town. A commission in the army would not be bought so dearly, but that it is found insufferable not to budge from the town; and men only seek conversation and entering games, because they cannot remain with pleasure at home.

* * *

166. Diversion.--Death is easier to bear without thinking of it than is the thought of death without peril.

167. The miseries of human life has established all this: as men have seen this, they have taken up diversion.

168. Diversion.--As men are not able to fight against death, misery, ignorance, they have taken it into their heads, in order to be happy, not to think of them at all.

169. Despite these miseries, man wishes to be happy, and only wishes to be happy, and cannot wish not to be so. But how will he set about it? To be happy he would have to make himself immortal; but, not being able to do so, it has occurred to him to prevent himself from thinking of death.

170. Diversion.--If man were [naturally] happy, he would be the more so, the less he was diverted, like the Saints and God. Yes; but is it not to be happy to have a faculty of being amused by diversion? No; for that comes from elsewhere and from without, and thus is dependent, and therefore subject to be disturbed by a thousand accidents, which bring inevitable griefs.

171. Misery.--The only thing which consoles us for our miseries is diversion, and yet this is the greatest of our miseries. For it is this which principally hinders us from reflecting upon ourselves and which makes us insensibly ruin ourselves. Without this we should be in a state of weariness, and this weariness would spur us to seek a more solid means of escaping from it. But diversion amuses us, and leads us unconsciously to death.

Quotes - Jeremy Taylor

2007-03-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

(Unsorted)

God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy.

Quotes - Federick W. Faber

2007-03-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

(Unsorted)
When we sin we are more vexed at the lowering of our self-esteem than we are grieved at God’s dishonor. We are surprised and irritated at our own lack of self-control in subjecting ourselves to unworthy habits…The first cause of this is self-love, which is unable to stand the disappointment of not seeing ourselves in time of trial come out beautiful, erect, and admirable.

Quotes - Thomas Watson

2007-03-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

(Unsorted)

Would it not be an encouragement to a subject, to hear his prince say to him, You will honor and please me very much, if you will go to yonder mine of gold, and dig as much gold for yourself as you can carry away? So, for God to say, Go to the ordinances, get as much grace as you can, dig out as much salvation as you can; and the more happiness you have, the more I shall count myself glorified.

Quotes - J.I. Packer

2007-03-10T14:58:00.000-08:00

(Knowing God)

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, findout how much he makes of the thought of being God's child, and having God as his Father. For everything that Christ taught, everything that makes the New Testament new, and better than the Old, everything that is distinctively Christian as opposed to merely Jewish, is summed up in the knowledge of the Fatherhood of God. "Father" is the Christian name for God.

Others - Other :: TULIP (Calvinism)

2007-03-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

(All links verified as of March 11, 2007)

Wikipedia Entry on TULIP

Monergism Calvinism Directory
Monergism Search for TULIP

CRTA Section on Calvinism

T
Total Depravity (Total Inability)

U
Unconditional Election

L
Limited Atonement (Particular Redemption)

I
Irresistible Grace (Efficacious Calling)

P
Perseverance of the Saints (Security of the Elect)

Others - John Piper :: A Baptist Cathechism

2007-03-10T14:49:00.000-08:00

As retrieved from DesiringGod March 11, 2007: A Baptist Catechism

A Baptist Catechism

(Adapted by John Piper)

A Catechism?

I. What is a catechism?

In 1 Corinthians 14:19 Paul says, "In the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue." In Galatians 6:6 he says, "Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches." Acts 18:25 says that Apollos "has been instructed in the way of the Lord."

In each of these verses the Greek word for "instruct" or "teach" is katecheo. From this word we get our English word "catechize". It simply means to teach Biblical truth in an orderly way. Generally this is done with questions and answers accompanied by Biblical support and explanation.

II. What is the history of this catechism?

This is a slightly revised version of "The Baptist Catechism" first put forth by Baptists in 1689 in Great Britain. It was adopted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1742. It is patterned on the well-known reformed Westminster Catechism. The few comments in the earlier questions are meant to help parents make things plain to their children.

III. Is there a Biblical pattern of doctrine?

Several texts teach that there is. For example, in Romans 6:17 Paul gives thanks that "you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were committed." 2 Timothy 1:13 says, "Follow the pattern of sound words which you heard from me." Acts 2:42 says, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching." 2 Thessalonians 2:15 says, "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us." And Acts 20:27 says, "I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."

So it appears that there was a body of authoritative instruction and even a way of teaching it in the early church.

IV. Why is it important?

1) We are required to "continue in the faith, stable and steadfast" (Col. 1:23).

2) We are urged to "attain to the unity of the... knowledge of the Son of God...so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine" (Eph. 4:13-14).

3) There are many deceivers (1 John 2:26).

4) There are difficult doctrines "which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:16).

5) Leaders must be raised up who can "give instruction in sound doctrine and also confute those who contradict it" (Titus 1:9).

V. How shall we begin?

Make them part of your family routine or just use them for yourself. I am excited about being a partner with you in building a "stable and firm" generation who hopes in God.

Learning and teaching with you,
Pastor John

The Catechism

Sometimes there are other ways to express a true answer to these questions. Feel free to use Scripture to formulate other true answers where possible and helpful. The aim of a catechism is not to be exhaustive but to give a solid tease from which to "keep growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:17).

Question 1: Who is the first and best of beings?

Answer: God is the first and best of beings.

Scripture: Isaiah 44:6; Psalm 8:1; 96:4; 97:9, 1 Samuel 2:2

Question 2: What is the chief end of man?

Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:31; Psalm 16:11; 37:4; 73:25-26; Isaiah43:7.

Comment: "Glorify” does not mean make glorious. It means [to] reflect or display as glorious. Other words you could use for "end" are "goal" or "purpose".

Question 3: How do we know there is a God?

Answer: The light of nature in man, and the works of God, plainly declares that there is a God; but his word and Spirit only, do effectually reveal him unto us for our salvation.

Scripture: Romans 1:18-20; Psalm 19:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:15; 1 Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:9, 10; Matthew 11:27.

Comment: The question distinguishes two kinds of knowledge: one is natural and comes from conscience ("the light of nature in man") and from the works of God in nature; the other is spiritual or saving, and comes from the recognition of the true value of God and the beauty of his character. Natural knowledge is possessed by all people and thus makes all people accountable to honor and thank God. Spiritual knowledge is possessed only by those whose natural blindness has been overcome by the Spirit of God. (1 Cor. 2:14-16). Our children must come to see the difference between these lest they think they are saved by much natural knowledge about God—which the devils also have James 2:19).

Question 4: What is the Word of God?

Answer: The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, being given by divine inspiration, are the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice.

Scripture: 2 Peter 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; Isaiah 8:20; Matthew 5:17- 18; 1 Corinthians 2:13; Psalm 19:7-8.

Comment: "Scriptures" is a special word for the "writings" of the OT and NT. Perhaps you will want to explain that the OT deals with God's word that came before Jesus was born; and the NT is the word of God that came after Jesus was born. "Infallible" means it will never lead us astray in what it teaches. It is true and does not err. It can be trusted. "Faith" refers to right thinking and feeling; and "practice" refers to right doing. We measure our thoughts and emotions and actions by the rule of the Bible. "Inspiration" means that it is God-breathed: by his Spirit he guided his spokesmen to speak his word in their language.

Question 5: How do we know that the Bible is the Word of God?

Answer: The Bible evidences itself to be God's Word by the heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, and its power to convert sinners and to edify saints. But only the Spirit of God can make us willing to agree and submit to the Bible as the Word of God.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:6-7,13-16; Psalm 19:7-9; 119:18,129; Acts 10:43; 26:22; 18:28; Hebrews 4:12; Romans 15:4; John 16:13,14; 1 John 2:20-27; 2 Corinthians 3:14-17; 4:4, 6.

Comment: "Heavenliness" refers to the fact [that] the teachings of Scripture are of such a nature that they cannot be explained by mere human resources. They bear the marks of the supernatural. "No man ever spoke like this man" (John 7:46). The "unity of its parts" has to do especially with the way all Scripture points to Christ. "To him all the prophets bear witness" (Acts 10:43). There are detailed and scholarly historical arguments for the reliability of the Bible, but these are generally beyond the acquaintance of ordinary Christians, and so do not serve as widespread support for Scripture. They are needed, however, in the scholarly arena. [See "Is the Bible a Reliable Guide to Lasting Joy" in Desiring God by John Piper (Multnomah Press, 1986).]

Question 6: May all men make use of the Scriptures?

Answer: All men are not only permitted, but commanded and exhorted, to read, hear, and understand the Scriptures.

Scripture: John 5:39; Luke 16:29; Acts 8:28-30; 17:11.

Question 7: What do the Scriptures mainly teach?

Answer: The Scriptures mainly teach what man is to believe about God and what duty God requires of man.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; John 20:31; Acts 24:14; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Ecclesiastes 12:13.

Question 8: What is God?

Answer: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

Scripture: John 4:24; Psalm 89:14; 90:2; 147:5; James 1:17; Revelation 4:8; Exodus 34:6, 7; 1 Timothy 1:17; Numbers 23:19.

Comment: Ask what "infinite" means (there is no limit to how great he is!). What does "eternal" mean? (He never had a beginning and will never have an ending!) Talk about how God can respond to us and yet not be "changeable." (His character never changes; he acts consistently on the same principles always. Even his responses to us are known and planned long before so that his purposes are unchanging.)

Question 9: Are there more Gods than one?

Answer: There is only one living and true God.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4; Jeremiah 10:10; Psalm 96:4-5.

Comment: There are "gods" which are idols, but they are not "living". And there are "gods" which are angels or demons, but they are not "true" God, that is they are not eternal, infinite and unchanging. Only one God is living and true.

Question 10: How many persons are there in the Godhead?

Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:11; 8:6; John 1:1; 10:30; 14:9; 20:28; Acts 5:3,4; Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3.

Comment: The word "Godhead" is needed because we shouldn't say that there are three persons in God. No, there are three persons who are God. Nor should we say that there are three Gods. There is one God. They are distinct persons with special roles in creation and redemption. But they are in perfect harmony and are (in ways beyond our comprehension) perfectly One God. (See The Pleasures of God, by John Piper, Multnomah Press, pp. 38, 42-44 for one explanation of the Trinity.)

Question 11: What are the decrees of God?

Answer: The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

Scripture: Ephesians 1:11; Romans 11:36; Daniel 4:35; Isaiah 46:10; Psalm 115:3; Amos 3:6.

Comment: You might shorten it to: "God's decrees are his own plans for history. And they always happen." His purpose for the world is eternal because there never was a time when he didn't know what he was going to do. His purpose accords with the counsel of HIS will--that is he did not consult anyone else. He thought it ALL up. All plans were made in order to maximize the display of his glory. NOTHING falls outside the decrees of God.

Question 12: How does God execute his decrees?

Answer: God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence.

Scripture: Genesis 1:1; Revelation 4:11; Matthew 5:45; 6:26; Acts 14:17: Proverbs 16:9, 33; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1, 31.

Comment: Instead of "execute" you can say "perform" or "accomplish" or "bring about". The word "providence" will be taken up in a later question. For now it refers to the way God preserves and governs all his creatures and all their actions (like the fall of a bird or the election of a president). It refers to God's general rule over the world he has created.

Question 13: What is the work of creation?

Answer: The work of creation is God's making all things [out] of nothing, by the word of his power and all very good.

Scripture: Genesis 1:1, 31; Hebrews 11:3; Exodus 20:11; Romans 4:17.

Comment: Before creation there was only God in the holy fellowship of the Trinity. Therefore his creation is always different from ours: we start with something.

Question 14: How did God create man?

Answer: God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

Scripture: Genesis 1:27-28; Colossians 3:10; Ephesians 4:24.

Comment: In saying that we were created after his image "in knowledge, righteousness and holiness," we do not mean we know all God knows, nor that we are a fountain of righteousness and holiness the way he is. We mean that we were capable of sharing his knowledge and righteousness and holiness in a relationship of trust and love unlike any other creature under the angels.

Question 15: What are God's works of providence?

Answer: God's works of providence are the holy, wise, and powerful acts which he preserves and governs all his creatures, and all their actions.

Scripture: Nehemiah 9:6; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 103:19; Matthew 10:29-30.

Comment: It would be helpful to discuss this with your child in relation to the common concept of "luck." Is there such a thing as luck in a world ruled by the providence of God? "The lot is cast into the lap, but the decision is wholly from the Lord" (16:33). You will also need to stress that many of God's acts of providence may not look "holy and wise" (like storms that kill thousands of people). But then stress that God has his secret purposes (Deut. 29:29) that we are never great enough to see, and the Judge of all the earth always does right (Genesis 18:25).

Question 16: What special act of providence did God exercise towards man when he was first created?

Answer: When God had created man, he made a covenant with him that he should live and enjoy all the benefits of creation, but that he would die if he forsook the obedience that comes from faith. God commanded him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and thus forsake his child-like dependence upon God for all things.

Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17; Galatians 3:12; Romans 5:12.

Comment: The "knowledge of good and evil" is the ability to judge independently what is beneficial (good) and harmful (evil) for yourself. What God is forbidding is that man should choose to be independent from God in his evaluation of things. He is commanding man to walk by faith in the wise and loving care of his heavenly Father. (See the use of this phrase in Gen. 3:5, 22; 2 Sam. 14:17; Is. 7:15; 2 Sam 19:35.)

Question 17: Did our first parents continue in the glad obedience for which they were created?

Answer: No, but desiring to be like God, our first parents forsook the obedience of faith, ate of the forbidden tree, sinned against God, and fell from the innocence in which they were created.

Scripture: Genesis 3:1-7; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Romans 5:12.

Question 18: What is sin?

Answer: Sin is transgression of the revealed will of God which teaches that we are to act in perfect holiness from a heart of faith to the glory of God.

Scripture: 1 John 3:4; Romans 5:13; 14:23; 1 Peter 1:16; Matthew 5:48; 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Comment Simplified: Sin is any attitude or desire or action that explicitly breaks a commandment of Scripture, or comes from a heart of unbelief or is not done for the glory of God.

Question 19: What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?

Answer: The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit

Scripture: Genesis 3:6, 12, 13.

Question 20: Did all mankind fall in Adam's first sin?

Answer: All mankind, descending from Adam by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first sin.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; Romans 5:12, 18-19.

Comment: God considered all mankind as being in Adam so that when Adam went bad we all went bad in him. The nature that we have by virtue of belonging to Adam's race is morally corrupt. We are under the wrath of God "by nature" (Ephesians 2:3) from the time we were conceived in the womb. This is why conversion and salvation must be much more than a "decision" for Christ. It must be a new creation, a rebirth, an exchange of hearts.

Question 21: Into what condition did the fall bring mankind?

Answer: The fall brought mankind into a condition of sin and misery.

Scripture: Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:18-19; 7:18; Isaiah 53:6; 64:6; John 3:6-7; Ephesians 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 2:14.

Question 22: What is the sinfulness of that condition into which all mankind has fallen?

Answer: The sinfulness of the condition into which all mankind fell is the guilt of Adam's first sin, the lack of original righteousness, and the corruption of our whole nature (which is commonly called original sin), together with all actual transgressions which come from this nature.

Scripture: Romans 5:19; 3:10; Ephesians 2:1; Isaiah 53:6; Psalm 51:5; Matthew 15:19.

Comment: The Bible says that "in Adam all die" (1 Cor. 15:22) and that "one transgression yields condemnation for all men" (Rom. 5:18) and that "one man's disobedience made many sinners" (Rom. 5:19). These statements lead us to conclude that God, in a way beyond our comprehension, established a unity between Adam and his posterity which makes it just for us to receive the imputation of his guilt and corruption. He was in some sense our representative head. We sinned in him and fell with him.

Question 23: What is the misery into which all mankind fell through Adam's first sin?

Answer: All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.

Scripture: Genesis 3:8, 24; Ephesians 2:3; Galatians 3:10; Romans 6:23; Matthew 25:41-46; Psalm 9:17.

Comment: Keep in mind that "liable to" means that these miseries will indeed befall all people unless a special work of God's grace intervenes.

Question 24: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the condition of sin and misery?

Answer: God, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, having chosen a people to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the condition of sin and misery, and to bring them into a condition of salvation, by a Redeemer.

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Romans 5:21; 8:29-30; 9:11-12; 11:5-7; Acts 13:48; Jeremiah 31:33.

Comment: The term "covenant of grace" is filled with sweet and precious hope. It refers to the free decision, commitment and oath of God to employ all his omnipotence and wisdom and love to rescue and glorify his people from sin and misery. It is wholly initiated and carried through by God. It cannot fail.

It is valid for all who believe. WHOSOEVER WILL MAY COME AND ENJOY THIS GRACE! And, since this "believing" and this "willing" is a work of God's sovereign grace, those who believe and come are the elect, "chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world" (Eph. 1:4). Thus the covenant was sealed in the heart of God before the world was.

This "covenant of grace" is the cry of victory over all the battle strife in missions. THE GRACE OF GOD WILL TRIUMPH! He is covenant-bound, oath-bound to save all those who are foreordained to eternal life (Acts 13:48)! "Jesus died for the nation (of Jews), and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (John 11:52).

The battle cry of missions is, "The Lord has other sheep that are not of this fold: He MUST (covenant-bound!!) bring them also. They WILL (sovereign grace!!) heed his voice!" John 10:16.

Question 25: Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?

Answer: The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person, forever.

Scripture: Galatians 3:13; 1 Timothy 2:5; 3:16; John 1:14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9.

Question 26: How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?

Answer: Christ, the Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and was born of her, yet without sin.

Scripture: Hebrews 2:14; 4:14; 7:26; Matthew 26:38; Luke 2:52; John 1:14; 12:27; Luke 1:31, 35; 2:52; Colossians 2:9.

Comment: I am typing this on a Personal Computer. I have virtually no idea how it works. That it works I am certain: I have typed hundreds of sermons on it. So it is with the "incarnation"--the "how" is (as the old theologians used to say) "ineffable". We believe it because the Scriptures teach it and because it "works" to make sense out of God's whole redemptive plan.

Question 27: What offices does Christ perform as our Redeemer?

Answer: Christ, as our Redeemer, performs the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his condition of humiliation and exaltation.

Scripture: Acts 3:22; Hebrews 5:6; Psalm 2:6.

Question 28: How does Christ perform the office of a prophet?

Answer: Christ performs the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.

Scripture: John 1:18; 14:26; 15:15.

Question 29: How does Christ perform the office of a priest?

Answer: Christ performs the office of a priest by once offering himself as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and to reconcile us to God; and by making continual intercession for us before God.

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 2: 17; 7:25; 9:28; Ephesians 5:2; Romans 8:34.

Question 30: How does Christ perform the office of a king?

Answer: Christ performs the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

Scripture: Psalm 110:1-2; Matthew 2:6; Luke 1:32-33; 1 Corinthians 15:25.

Question 31: What do we mean by Christ's humiliation?

Answer: By Christ's humiliation we mean that he was born, and that in a low condition; that he was made under the law, and underwent the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; that he was buried, and continued under the power of death for a time.

Scripture: Luke 2:7; Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 53:3; Luke 22:44; Matthew 12:40; 27:46; Philippians 2:8; Mark 15:45-6.

Question 32: What do we mean by Christ's exaltation?

Answer: By Christ's exaltation we mean his rising again from the dead on the third day, ascending up into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and coming to judge the world at the last day.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:4; Acts 1:11; Mark 16:19; Acts 17:31.

Question 33: How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?

Answer: We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effective application of it to us, by his Holy Spirit.

Scripture: John 3:5, 6; Titus 3:5, 6.

Question 34: How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

Answer: The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.

Scripture: 1 John 5:1; Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 16:14; 18:27; John 3:8; 6:64f.

Question 35: What is effectual calling?

Answer: Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit, to convince us of our sin and misery, to enlighten our minds in the knowledge of Christ, to renew our wills, and thus persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

Scripture: 2 Timothy 1:9; John 6:44, 45; 16:8-11; Acts 2:37; 26:18; Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 8:30; 1 Corinthians 1:24; 12:3.

Question 36: What benefits do those who are effectually called receive in this life?

Answer: Those who are effectually called receive in this life justification, adoption, sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life accompany or flow from them.

Scripture: Romans 8:30-32; Galatians 3:26; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; Ephesians 1:5.

Comment: We must distinguish effectual calling from the general call of the gospel. Not all who hear the gospel believe. But all who are effectually called by God do believe. The call creates what it commands.

Question 37: What is justification?

Answer: Justification is an act of God's free grace, by which he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.

Scripture: Romans 3:24; 5:19; Ephesians 1:7; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9; Galatians 2:16.

Question 38: What is adoption?

Answer: Adoption is an act of God's free grace, by which we are received into the company of God's children and have a right to all the privileges of his sons.

Scripture: 1 John 3:1; John 1:12; Romans 8:16, 17.

Question 39: What is sanctification?

Answer: Sanctification is the work of God's free grace by which we are renewed in the whole person after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Ephesians 4:23, 24; Romans 6:11.

Question 40: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

Answer: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, fellowship with Christ, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, the privilege of prayer, and perseverance therein to the end.

Scripture: Romans 5:1-5; 14:17; Proverbs 4:18: 1 Peter 1:5; 1 John 5:13; 1 Corinthians 1:9; John 15:7.

Question 41: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?

Answer: At death the souls of believers are made perfect in holiness, and immediately pass into glory. Their bodies rest in their graves till the resurrection.

Scripture: Hebrews 12:23; Philippians 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Luke 23:43; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; Isaiah 57:2; Job 19:26.

Question 42: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the Resurrection?

Answer: At the resurrection, believers are raised up in glory; they shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God to all eternity.

Scripture: Philippians 3:20, 21; 1 Corinthians 15:42, 43; Matthew 10:32; 1 John 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Question 43: What shall be done to the wicked at death?

Answer: The souls of the wicked shall at death, be cast into the torments of hell, and their bodies lie in their graves till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.

Scripture: Luke 16:22-4; Daniel 12:2; John 5:29; Revelation 20:11- 15.

Question 44: What shall be done to the wicked at the Day of Judgment?

Answer: At the Day of Judgment, the bodies of the wicked, being raised out of their graves shall be sentenced, together with their souls, to unspeakable torments with the devil and his angels forever.

Scripture: Daniel 12:2; John 5:28, 29; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:14-15.

Question 45: What is the duty which God requires of man?

Answer: The duty which God requires of man is the obedience that comes from faith.

Scripture: Galatians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 2 Thessalonians 2:11; Romans 1:5; 16:26; 15:18.

Comment: See questions 16-18.

Question 46: What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?

Answer: The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law.

Scripture: Rom. 2:14; 15; 5:13, 14.

Question 47: Where is the obedience of faith given in summary form?

Answer: A summary form of the obedience of faith is given in the Ten Commandments.

Scripture: Hebrews 3:18-19; 4:2; Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 10:4; Romans 9:32.

Question 48: What is the sum of the Ten Commandments?

Answer: The sum of the Ten Commandments is to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Scripture: Matthew 22:36-40; Mark 12:28-33.

Question 49: What is the preface to the Ten Commandments?

Answer: The preface to the Ten Commandments is, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

Scripture: Exodus 20:2.

Question 50: What does the preface to the Ten Commandments teach us?

Answer: The preface to the Ten Commandments teaches us that because God is the LORD, and our gracious Redeemer, his commandments are for our good and he does not will for us to depend on ourselves in keeping them, but to trust his grace and power.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 10:13, 16; 30:6.

Question 51: Which is the first commandment?

Answer: The first commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

Scripture: Exodus 20:3.

Question 52: What is required in the first commandment?

Answer: The first commandment requires us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly.

Scripture: Joshua 24:15; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Deuteronomy 26:17; Psalm 29:2; Matthew 4:10.

Question 53: What is forbidden in the first commandment?

Answer: The first commandment forbids us to deny or not to worship and glorify the true God as God and our God; and to give that worship and glory to any other, which is due unto him alone.

Scripture: Joshua 24:27; Romans 1:20-21, 25; Psalm 14:1.

Question 54: What are we especially taught by these words, "before me," in the first commandment?

Answer: These words "before me," in the first commandment teach us that God, who sees all things, takes notice of, and is much displeased with the sin of having any other God.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:17, 18; Psalm 44:20-21; 90:8.

Question 55: Which is the second commandment?

Answer: The second commandment is, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments."

Scripture: Exodus 20:4-6.

Question 56: What is required in the second commandment?

Answer: The second commandment requires the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances, as God has appointed in his word.

Scripture: Deuteronomy 12:32; 32:46; Matthew 28:20.

Question 57: What is forbidden in the second commandment?

Answer: The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by images, or any other way that draws the heart away from his glory rather than toward his glory.

Scripture: Romans 1:22, 23; Deuteronomy 4:15, 16; Colossians 2:18; 3:17; 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Question 58: What are the reasons added to the second commandment?

Answer: The reasons added to the second commandment are God's holy jealousy for his name, and the zeal he has for his own worship.

Scripture: Exodus 20:4-6; Exodus 34:14; 1 Corinthians 10:22.

Question 59: Which is the third commandment?

Answer: The third commandment is, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

Scripture: Exodus 20:7.

Question 60: What is required in the third commandment?

Answer: The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God's name, titles, attributes, ordinances, words, and works.

Scripture: Psalm 29:2; 111:9; 138:2; Deuteronomy 32:1-4; 28:58-59; Matthew 6:9; Ecclesiastes 5:1; Job 36:24; Revelation 4:8; 15:3, 4.

Question 61: What is forbidden in the third commandment?

Answer: The third commandment forbids all profaning and abusing of anything whereby God makes himself known.

Scripture: Exodus 20:7; Malachi 1:6, 7; Leviticus 20:3; 19:12; Matthew 5:34-37; Isaiah 52:5.

Question 62: What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?

Answer: The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

Scripture: Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 28:58, 59; Malachi 2:2.

Question 63: Which is the fourth commandment?

Answer: The fourth commandment is, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it."

Scripture: Exodus 20:8-11.

Question 64: What is required in the fourth commandment?

Answer: The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set times as he has appointed in his word, expressly one whole day in seven to be a holy Sabbath to himself.

Scripture: Leviticus 19:30; Deuteronomy 5:12.

Question 65: Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

Answer: From the creation of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

Scripture: Genesis 2:3; John 20:19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2; Revelation 1:10.

Question 66: How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

Answer: One day in seven should be especially devoted to corporate worship and other spiritual exercises that restore the soul's rest in God and zeal for His name. It should provide physical refreshment and fit one for a week of devoted service to Christ.

Scripture: Leviticus 23:3; Isaiah 58:13, 14; Matthew 12:1-14; Mark 2:27; Romans 14:5-6.

Question 67: What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?

Answer: The fourth commandment forbids dishonoring the Lord's Day by actions or thoughts that divert the soul from spiritual refreshment, or deprive the body of renewed energy or distract the mind from its special Sabbath focus on the Lord.

Scripture: Ezekiel 22:26; 23:38; Jeremiah 17:21; Nehemiah 13:15, 17; Acts 20:7; Mark 2:23-28; Romans 14:5-6.

Question 68: What are the reasons attached to the fourth commandment?

Answer: The reasons attached to the fourth commandment are, God's creating the world in six days and resting on the seventh and his blessing the Sabbath day.

Scripture: Exodus 20:9-11; 31:16, 17; Genesis 2:2, 3.

Question 69: Which is the 5th commandment?

Answer: The fifth commandment is, "Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God gives thee."

Scripture: Exodus 20:12.

Question 70: What is required in the fifth commandment?

Answer: The fifth commandment requires that we preserve the honor and perform the duties which belong to every one in their various roles as authorities, subordinates or equals.

Scripture: Leviticus 19:32; 1 Peter 2:17; Romans 12:10; 13:1; Ephesians 5:21-22; 6:1, 5, 9; Colossians 3:19-22; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Hebrews 13:7, 17.

Question 71: What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?

Answer: The fifth commandment forbids neglecting or offending the honor and duty which belongs to every one in their various places and relations.

Scripture: Proverbs 30:17; Romans 13:7, 8.

Question 72: What is the reason added to the fifth commandment?

Answer: The reason added to the fifth commandment is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve God's glory and their own good), to all who keep this commandment.

Scripture: Exodus 20:20; Ephesians 6:2, 3.

Question 73: What is the sixth commandment?

Answer: The sixth commandment is, "Thou shalt not kill."

Scripture: Exodus 20:13.

Question 74: What is required in the sixth commandment?

Answer: The sixth commandment requires all lawful efforts to preserve our own life and the life of others.

Scripture: Ephesians 5:29, 30; Psalm 82:3, 4; Proverbs 24:11, 12; Acts 16:28.

Question 75: What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?

Answer: The sixth commandment forbids the taking of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, including whatever acts tend to this loss.

Scripture: Genesis 4:10, 11; 9:6; Matthew 5:21-26.

Question 76: Which is the seventh commandment?

Answer: The seventh commandment is, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

Scripture: Exodus 20:14.

Question 77: What is required in the seventh commandment?

Answer: The seventh commandment requires that we preserve our own and our neighbor's chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:18; 7:2; 2 Timothy 2:22; Matthew 5:28; 1 Peter 3:2.

Question 78: What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?

Answer: The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, words and actions.

Scripture: Matthew 5:28-32; Job 31:1; Ephesians 5:3, 4; Romans 13:13; Colossians 4:6.

Question 79: Which is the eighth commandment?

Answer: The eighth commandment is, "Thou shalt not steal."

Scripture: Exodus 20:15.

Question 80: Which is required in the eighth commandment?

Answer: The eighth commandment requires that we pursue lawful and useful work to provide for our needs and for those unable to provide for themselves.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:28; Proverbs 27:23; Leviticus 25:35; Deuteronomy 15:10; 22:1-4.

Question 81: What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?

Answer: The eighth commandment forbids whatever would unjustly withhold or diminish a person's possessions or attainments.

Scripture: Malachi 3:8; Ephesians 4:28; Romans 13:7.

Question 82: Which is the ninth commandment?

Answer: The ninth commandment is, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Scripture: Exodus 20:16.

Question 83: What is required in the ninth commandment?

Answer: The ninth commandment requires that we maintain and promote truth between persons and that we preserve the good name of our neighbor and ourselves.

Scripture: Zechariah 8:16; Acts 25:10; Ecclesiastes 7:1; 3 John 12; Proverbs 14:5, 25.

Question 84: What is forbidden in the ninth commandment?

Answer: The ninth commandment forbids whatever dishonors truth, or injures our own, or our neighbor's good name.

Scripture: Ephesians 4:25; Psalm 15:3; 2 Corinthians 8:20, 21.

Question 85: What is the tenth commandment?

Answer: The tenth commandment is, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

Scripture: Exodus 20:17.

Question 86: What is required in the tenth commandment?

Answer: The tenth commandment requires contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit towards our neighbor, and all that is his.

Scripture: Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:6; Romans 12:15; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7; Leviticus 19:18.

Question 87: What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?

Answer: The tenth commandment forbids all murmuring over our own condition and all envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate affections for anything that is his.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 10:10; James 5:9; Galatians 5:26; Colossians 3:5.

Question 88: Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

Answer: No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but daily falls short of inward and outward perfection.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 7:20; Genesis 6:5; 8:21; 1 John 1:8; James 3:2, 8; Romans 3:23; 7:15; Philippians 3:12.

Question 89: What then is the purpose of the law since the fall?

Answer: The purpose of the law, since the fall, is to reveal the perfect righteousness of God, that his people may know the path of faith that leads to life, and that the ungodly may be convicted of their sin, restrained from evil, and brought to Christ for salvation.

Scripture: Psalm 19:7-11; Romans 3:20, 31; 7:7; 8:13; 9:32; 12:2; Titus 2:12-14; Galatians 3:22, 24; 1 Timothy 1:8; Luke 10:25-28.

Question 90: Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

Answer: Some sins in themselves and by reason of several aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others.

Scripture: Ezekiel 8:13; John 19:11; 1 John 5:16.

Question 91: What does every sin deserve?

Answer: Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life, and in that which is to come.

Scripture: Ephesians 5:6; Galatians 3:10; Proverbs 3:33; Psalm 11:6; Revelation 21:8.

Question 92: What does God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse, due to us for sin?

Answer: To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption.

Scripture: Acts 20:21; 16:30, 31; 17:30.

Question 93: What is faith in Jesus Christ?

Answer: Faith in Jesus Christ is saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, trusting him to forgive our sins, and guide us to eternal joy, on the basis of his divine power and atoning death.

Scripture: Hebrews 10:39; John 1:12; 6:35; Philippians 3:9; Galatians 2:15-16, 20; Matthew 14:31.

Question 94: What is repentance unto life?

Answer: Repentance unto life is a saving grace, by which a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it to God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.

Scripture: Acts 2:37; Joel 2:13; Jeremiah 31:18, 19; 2 Corinthians 7:10, 11; Romans 6:18.

Question 95: What are the outward and ordinary means by which Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption?

Answer: The outward and ordinary means by which Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are his ordinances, especially the Word, Baptism, the Lord's Supper and Prayer; all of which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

Scripture: Romans 10:17; James 1:18; 1 Corinthians 3:5; Acts 14:1; 2:41, 42.

Question 96: How is the Word made effective for salvation?

Answer: The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith unto salvation.

Scripture: Psalm 19:7; 119:11, 18; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Peter 2:1, 2; Romans 1:16.

Question 97: How is the Word to be read and heard that it may become effective for salvation?

Answer: That the Word may become effective for salvation we must attend to it with diligence, preparation and prayer, receive it in faith and love, lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives.

Scripture: Proverbs 8:34; 1 Peter 2:1, 2; 1 Timothy 4:13; Hebrews 2:1, 3; 4:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:10; Psalm 119:11; James 1:21, 25.

Question 98: How do Baptism and the Lord's Supper become effective means of salvation?

Answer: Baptism and the Lord's Supper become effective means of salvation, not from any virtue in them or in him that administers them, but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in those who by faith receive them.

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:21; 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7; 12:13.

Question 99: How do Baptism and the Lord's Supper differ from the other ordinances of God?

Answer: Baptism and the Lord's Supper differ from the other ordinances of God in that they were specially instituted by Christ to represent and apply to believers the benefits of the new covenant by visible and outward signs.

Scripture: Acts 22:16; Matthew 26:26-28; 28:19; Romans 6:4.

Question 100: What is Baptism?

Answer: Baptism is a holy ordinance, in which immersion in the water in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, signifies our being joined to Christ and our sharing the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's.

Scripture: Matthew 28:19; Romans 6:3-5; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:27.

Question 101: To whom is Baptism to be administered?

Answer: Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ; and to no other.

Scripture: Acts 2:38; 8:12, 36; 10:47, 48; Matthew 3:6; Mark 16:16.

Question 102: Are the infants of professing believers to be baptized?

Answer: The infants of believers are not to be baptized; because there is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures, nor implication from them to baptize such. But baptism is made an expression of faith.

Scripture: Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21; Galatians 3:26, 27.

Question 103: How is Baptism rightly administered?

Answer: Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, or dipping the whole body of the person in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Scripture: Matthew 3:16; John 3:23; Acts 8:38, 39.

Question 104: What is the duty of those who are rightly baptized?

Answer: It is the duty of those who are rightly baptized to give themselves to some visible and orderly church of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Scripture: Acts 2:46, 47; 9:26; 1 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 10:25; Romans 16:5.

Question 105: What is the visible church?

Answer: The visible church is the organized society of professing believers, in all ages and places, wherein the gospel is truly preached and the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper administered in true faith.

Scripture: Acts 2:42; 20:7; 7:38; Ephesians 4:11, 12.

Question 106: What is the invisible church?

Answer. The invisible church is the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head.

Scripture: Ephesians 1:10; 1:22, 23; John 10:16; 11:52.

Question 107: What is the Lord's Supper?

Answer: The Lord's Supper is a holy ordinance of the church. By eating bread and drinking the cup according to Christ's appointment we show forth his death. Those who eat and drink in a worthy manner partake of Christ's body and blood, not physically, but spiritually in that by faith they are nourished with the benefits he purchased, and grow in grace.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26; 10:16.

Question 108: What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper?

Answer: It is required of those who would worthily (that is, suitably) partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves--of their knowledge, that they discern the Lord's body; their faith, that they feed upon him; and their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 5:8; 11:27-31; 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Question 109: What is Prayer?

Answer: Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

Scripture: 1 John 5:14; 1:9; Philippians 4:6; Psalm 10:17; 145:19; John 14:13, 14.

Question 110: What rule has God given for our direction in prayer?

Answer: The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer, but the special rule of direction is that prayer, which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called the Lord's Prayer.

Scripture: Matthew 6:9-13; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.

Question 111: What does the preface of the Lord's Prayer teach us?

Answer: The preface of the Lord's Prayer, which is, "Our Father, who art in heaven," teaches us to draw near to God, with holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us, and that we should pray with and for others.

Scripture: Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:13; Romans 8:15; Acts 12:5; 1 Timothy 2:1-3.

Question 112: What do we pray for in the first petition of the Lord's Prayer?

Answer: In the first petition, which is "Hallowed be thy name," we pray that God would enable us and others to glorify him in all of life, and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.

Scripture: Matthew 6:9; Psalm 67:1-3; Romans 11:36; Revelation 4:11; 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Question 113: What do we pray for in the second petition of the Lord's Prayer?

Answer: In the second petition, which is, "Thy kingdom come," we pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced; that ourselves and others be brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.

Scripture: Matthew 6:10; 9:37,38; Psalm 68:1-18; Romans 10:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:1; Revelation 22:20.

Question 114: What do we pray for in the third petition of the Lord's Prayer?

Answer: In the third petition, which is, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we pray that God, by his grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.

Scripture: Matthew 6:10; Psalm 103:20, 21; 25:4, 5; 119:26.

Question 115: What do we pray for in the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer?

Answer: In the fourth petition, which is, "Give us this day our daily bread," we pray that of God's free gift, we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life and enjoy his blessing with them.

Scripture: Matthew 6:11; Proverbs 30:8, 9; 1 Timothy 6:6-8; 4:4, 5.

Question 116: What do we pray for in the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer?

Answer: In the fifth petition, which is, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors," we pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.

Scripture: Matthew 6:12; 18:35; Psalm 51:1, 3, 7; Mark 11:25.

Question 117: What do we pray for in the sixth petition?

Answer: In the sixth petition, which is, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," we pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.

Scripture: Matthew 6:13; 26:41; Psalm 19:13; 1 Corinthians 10:13; John 17:15.

Question 118: What does the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us?

Answer: The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, which is, "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever, Amen," teaches us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to him; and in testimony of our desire, and assurance to be heard, we say AMEN.

Scripture: Matthew 6:13; Daniel 9:18, 19; 1 Chronicles 29:11-13; 1 Corinthians 14:16; Philippians 4:6; Revelation 22:20.

The Lord's Prayer
(Matthew 6, RSV)

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen.

The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy Christian Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen.

The Ten Commandments
(Exodus 20, RSV)

And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or served them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your manservant, or your maidservant, or your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.

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